In the past, it has been known to provide strainers for preventing foreign solids over a certain size from being ingested into a paint pump. It has further been known to provide a mechanism for releasing a moveable element in an inlet check valve of a paint pump which has become stuck in a closed position due to inadequate cleaning.
Heretofore, however, there has not been an apparatus that has combined the features and functions of a strainer with a valve release. The present invention provides such a combination with attendant reduction in the complexity and cost associated with the prior art approach of using separate parts to perform the separate functions.